Holiday ornament for displaying gifts and jewelry and holiday ornament assembly

ABSTRACT

A holiday ornament can be used for presenting and displaying gifts such as jewelry or other small items. The holiday ornament can be hung on a holiday tree or display stand. The holiday ornament is preferably made from a transparent hollow sphere with an opening at the top. A gift such as jewelry can be mounted to a removable cap that covers the opening at the top of the holiday ornament. The gift is downwardly suspended inside the holiday ornament when the jewelry or other item is mounted to the cap and the cap is placed over the opening on the holiday ornament. The cap is easily removed from the holiday ornament and the jewelry is easily removed from the cap when the cap is removed from the holiday tree ornament. The holiday ornament is useful to present a gift contained inside, display the gift, and can operate as an ornament even without the gift inside.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/498,048, filed Aug. 27, 2003.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to holiday ornaments and displays for gifts such as jewelry.

2. Description of the Related Art

Various containers and boxes for holding and displaying jewelry are known in the prior art. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,676 to Carlson et al. discloses a multi-purpose ornament assembly that can be used for holding a gift item in the inside of the ornament. The Carlson ornament is a multipart ornament in which the gift lies on the inside bottom of the ornament and is retrieved by removing a bottom cap. The patent does not describe a holiday ornament with jewelry or other gift item suspended inside the holiday ornament. Because the displayed item lies on the bottom of the Carlson ornament, non-rigid items like jewelry (i.e. earrings and necklaces) do not display well in the Carlson ornament.

Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved holiday ornament for the presentation of jewelry and other items in which jewelry or other items can be suspended inside the holiday ornament.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a holiday ornament and a holiday ornament assembly, which overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and that can be used to display an item such as jewelry.

With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a holiday ornament for displaying and presenting jewelry that includes a hollow transparent body, a removable cap, and a mounting element. The hollow transparent body has an upwardly extending opening formed therein. The removable cap covers the upwardly extending opening. The mounting element is attached to the removable cap and extends into the hollow transparent body and is configured to hang the jewelry in the hollow transparent body.

In accordance with a further object of the invention, the ornament provides a container for presenting and displaying jewelry and other small gift items. More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a transparent hollow holiday ornament with a mounting element from which jewelry or other small gift items can be supported. The mounting element is connected to a separate cap element from which the jewelry or other gift item is suspended downwardly into the hollow interior of the transparent holiday ornament.

In accordance with a further object of the invention, a transparent holiday ornament containing and displaying jewelry or other small gift items is to be provided. The transparent holiday ornament is more fully described as a transparent hollow body having an upwardly extending opening. The upwardly extending opening forms a rim beneath which is a neck. A shoulder is defined between the neck and the transparent hollow body. The transparent hollow body can be formed from glass, plastic, crystal, or other transparent material and can be clear or tinted. The upwardly extending opening is large enough to insert jewelry or other small gift items for presenting and display. In addition, the invention includes a separate cap adapted to cover said opening by fitting over the rim. The cap has a mounting element for mounting jewelry or other small gift items for display inside the hollow transparent body. The cap has an external loop for suspending the transparent body from a holiday tree or display stand. The cap element is preferably made to securely cover the upwardly extending opening and can be easily removed and replaced. The cap element is placed over the upwardly extending opening with jewelry attached to the bottom surface of the cap element by the mounting element. The jewelry or other small gift item is suspended on the inside of the hollow transparent body so that the jewelry or other gift item hangs downwardly into the transparent body when the transparent body is suspended by the external loop on a holiday tree or display stand. The jewelry or other small gift item can be viewed from the outside by a viewer looking into the hollow transparent body.

In accordance with a further object of the invention, the mounting element is a flexible resilient wire bent and twisted to include an exterior loop and two legs. The exterior loop is configured to hang the holiday ornament from a bough of a tree. The legs are inserted in the opening and press against the shoulder to hold the cap on the transparent body. In addition, the wire can be twisted to form an interior loop. The interior loop is used for suspending the gift.

In accordance with a further object of the invention, a holiday ornament assembly is provided. The holiday ornament assembly includes the ornament itself and the gift (i.e. the jewelry). The gift enhances the beauty of the ornament and can be sold together.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a holiday ornament for displaying jewelry and a holiday ornament assembly, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, because various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic front exploded view of the holiday ornament according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front side view of the holiday ornament.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view of the holiday ornament.

FIG. 4 is a front side view of the holiday ornament hanging from a tree.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a woman wearing earrings from the holiday ornament.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is seen a holiday ornament assembly. The holiday ornament assembly is defined as a holiday ornament combined with an item to be displayed, such as a gift, jewelry, or earrings 10. A transparent body 6, a cap 4, and a mounting element 16 form the holiday ornament. The transparent body 6 is a hollow, transparent holiday tree ornament and has a neck 8 with an opening formed in the neck 8. The neck 8 joins the transparent body 6 at a shoulder 9. The transparent body 6 is preferably formed from glass, plastic, crystal, or other suitable material. The transparent body 6 can be clear or tinted.

A cap 4 that is removable is used to close the opening in the neck 8. The cap 4 is preferably fabricated from a flexible, malleable material, such as aluminum or tin that can be removed from the holiday tree ornament. The cap 4 has a plurality of flaps 15 that are bent over the upwardly extending opening in the neck 8. The mounting element 16 is made form a shaped piece of malleable, resilient wire. A loop 13 and two legs 3 are formed by twisting the metal wire 16. The legs are fed through two small holes formed in a central portion of the cap 4 such that the loop 13 is on the exterior of the cap 4 and the two wire legs 3 are inserted downwardly through the neck 8 into the interior of the transparent body 6. The legs 3 are shaped to tend to press outwardly against the shoulder 9 of the transparent body 6 in such a way that the cap 4 is secured on the opening in the neck 8 and the legs 3 are inserted inside the hollow body 6 forming a snap engagement.

The mounting element 16 also functions to support jewelry (preferably, earrings 10 or other jewelry that can be hung such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, and broaches) or other small gift items inside the transparent body 6. The earrings 10 can be given as a holiday gift. When the earrings 10 are suspended in the transparent body 6, the earrings 10 combine with the ornament to form a holiday ornament assembly having enhanced aesthetics.

An interior loop is formed by inserting each of the two legs 3 of the wire 16 into the same two holes in the cap 4 and twisting the legs 3 to securely form the interior loop 13; the interior loop is given its name because it is inside the transparent body 6. The legs 3 of the mounting element 16 can be optionally twisted together to form a closed loop, which is not shown. The wire of the mounting element 16 may also be wrapped or twisted around the jewelry (i.e. earrings 10) or other small gift item to secure it beneath the cap 4.

The holiday tree ornament can be further decorated by inserting glitter 7 or other decorative material such as artificial snow into the interior and attaching a bow 1 or other decorative material to the hanging loop 13. The bow 12 contains a knot 12 by which the bow can be attached to the loop 13.

The hollow body 6 also can be decorated with other decorative elements and designs such as painting, glitter and the like on the interior or exterior of the hollow body 6.

While a preferred embodiment of the holiday ornament for presenting and displaying jewelry and holiday ornament assembly have been described in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are possible all of which fall within the scope of the invention. With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationship for the parts of the invention, including variation of size, materials, shape, form, assembly and use are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. 

1. A holiday ornament for displaying and presenting gifts, comprising: a hollow transparent body having an upwardly extending opening formed therein; a removable cap covering said upwardly extending opening; and a mounting element attached to said removable cap, said mounting element extending into said hollow transparent body and being configured to hang the gift in said hollow transparent body.
 2. The holiday ornament according to claim 1, wherein: said hole is formed at a neck of said transparent body, a shoulder being defined between said neck and said transparent body; and said mounting element is a flexible resilient wire bent and twisted to include an exterior loop and two legs, said exterior loop being configured to hang the holiday ornament, and said legs being inserted in said opening and pressing against said shoulder to hold said cap on said transparent body.
 3. The holiday ornament according to claim 1, wherein said cap has a foldable flap for holding said cap on said transparent body when folded.
 4. The holiday ornament according to claim 1, further comprising a bow with a knot attaching said bow to said loop.
 5. The holiday ornament according to claim 1, further comprising glitter disposed in said transparent body.
 6. The holiday ornament according to claim 1, wherein said hollow transparent body is formed from a material selected from the group consisting of plastic, glass, and crystal.
 7. The holiday ornament according to claim 1, wherein the gift is jewelry.
 8. The holiday ornament according to claim 7, wherein the jewelry is an earring.
 9. The holiday ornament according to claim 1, wherein said mounting element includes an interior loop suspending the gift.
 10. The holiday ornament according to claim 2, wherein said wire is twisted to form an interior loop suspending the gift.
 11. A holiday ornament assembly, comprising: a holiday ornament including a hollow transparent body having an upwardly extending opening formed therein, a removable cap covering said upwardly extending opening, and a mounting element attached to said removable cap, said mounting element extending into said hollow transparent body; and a gift hanging from said mounting element in said hollow transparent body and being removable from said hollow transparent body by removing said cap.
 12. The holiday ornament assembly according to claim 11, wherein said gift is jewelry.
 13. The holiday ornament assembly according to claim 12, wherein said jewelry is an earring.
 14. The holiday ornament assembly according to claim 11, wherein said gift is suspended by said mounting element, said gift not contacting said body. 